Oliver (excavator)/Behind the Scenes
Background Information Television Series Oliver is a fictional big excavator created by Phil Fehrle. In 2002, Oliver made his debut in the sixth series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends in the episode, Jack Jumps In. He later appeared in the spin off series, Jack and the Sodor Construction Company and the special, The Great Discovery. When the show transitioned into full CGI in 2009, Oliver was absent for four years. He later returned in the 2015 special, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure and was one of the very few members of the Pack to return. Since his return in 2015, Oliver has been voiced by Tim Whitnall in both the British English and American English dubs of the series. Tim Whitnall gave Oliver an Irish accent. Behind the Scenes Live-action model Oliver's model was custom built by model maker, Chris Lloyd. The model's chassis was built out of brass and the top was built out of plastic to keep the weight down. The chassis had 16 wheels and the caterpillars. The model was painted in a matte finish and the numbers were custom stickers. There were three remotes built to control Oliver, one was used to control his movement, one was used to operated his bucket, and one was used to move his eyes. The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired. Nine different facial expressions were worn by Oliver on-screen. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould. File:Oliver's(ThePack)model.jpg File:Oliver's(ThePack)Model2.jpg File:AVisitfromThomasBehindtheScenes.jpg File:OnSitewithThomasBehindtheScenes.JPG File:OliverExcavatorConceptArt.png|Oliver's Concept artwork File:NelsonConceptArt.jpg|Concept artwork of Nelson hauling Oliver Oliver is capable of switching between different tools, including his usual bucket, a chisel for digging, a scissor claw and a wrecking ball for demolition. File:AVisitFromThomas41.png|Oliver with a chisel and bucket File:AlfieHasKittens40.png|Oliver with a scissor claw File:Thomas'TrustyFriends45.png|Oliver with a wrecking ball CGI Model In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Oliver was recreated from scratch in CGI by Arc Productions in 2014 for production of the 2015 special, Sodor´s Legend of the Lost Treasure. His model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software. Oliver has had a few modifications throughout the CGI era. These include: * Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure: ** His smaller wheels slightly increased in size. File:Oliver(ThePack)CGIpromo.png File:Oliver(ThePack)CGIpromo4.png File:Oliver(ThePack)head-onCGIpromo.png In the song You Can Only Be You of The Great Race, Thomas imagines himself with Oliver's wheels. File:TheGreatRace459.png Voice Actors * Tim Whitnall * Ryō Horikawa * Yuta Odagaki * Igor Cruz * Matthias Klimsa * Doriel Zohar * Alessandro Imperador Category:Behind the Scenes Category:Images of Oliver (The Pack) Category:Images from behind the scenes